San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick reacts against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on Dec. 23. The Seahawks defeated the 49ers, 42-13.

Written by

Duke Ritenhouse
nritenhouse@rgj.com

Who could have guessed, as dawn broke last Nov. 11 in San Francisco, that St. Louis Rams linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar would alter the fate of two men and one franchise that day?

Late in the first quarter of the Rams' game against the 49ers at Candlestick Park, Dunbar hit San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith in the back of the neck at the end of a play where Smith had spun and fallen awkwardly. Although Smith would remain in the game briefly, he was benched in favor of Colin Kaepernick, the 49ers' second-year quarterback out of Nevada, when Smith began showing possible concussion symptoms.